New Delhi: As I walked into Raj Ghat along with hundreds of people, I was filled with trepidation at the thought of some form of violence breaking out at the venue. It was, after all, my first visit to a demonstration of any kind.
Having distanced myself from active politics in college life, I had reservations against attending any form of protest demonstrations that had the potential to invite trouble.
But as I walked to the venue, my anxieties were dispelled. The assuring sight of a large posse of police personnel guarding the outer periphery helped. There were people milling around, sloganeering, as the day promised to be a hot and dusty one.
The morning lull that had settled in changed as soon as Anna Hazare and his team walked in to observe their day-long fast against corruption and black money. They were greeted with chants of 'Inquilab Zindabad'. I fasted too but like many others took occasional sips of water to wet my throat. The Hazare supporters needed it more than me for their enthusiastic sloganeering that lasted all day without any signs of ebbing.
The protest of June 8 will be remembered for its songs and dances which, despite being performed by common citizens, was more captivating than anything professional. People who had been on fast since morning, found much respite in these musical interludes, even if it had a mere placebo effect.
The energy of the crowd was infectious and I was amused to see middleaged men, housewives and children singing and dancing to patriotic songs from Hindi films with vigour. Needless to say, I was entertained.
The leaders who came in turns to speak - Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Anna Hazare, Swami Agnivesh and several other social and religious leaders drew much applause from the audience. With every speech, patriotic fervour seemed to get more and more inflamed, sometimes bordering dangerously on jingoism. But every time the crowd was incited, they were also quelled by invoking Gandhi’s name and his method of non-violence.
While there was some general criticism of the government, the mob seemed to be particularly furious at any mention of some Congress leaders such as Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal and Home Minister P Chidambaram.
When a communist party representative came on the stage to address the gathering, people jeered at her and eventually forced her to step down.
An 11-year-old boy, Amulya, had come all the way from Rohtak, Haryana, with his mother to support the cause. When I asked him whether he knew anything at all about the cause, he said in an injured tone, “I know Anna. I support him and the fast. I even made posters.” His proud mother then displayed the charts he had made, and clearly, the child’s scrawl there was unmistakable.
By evening the crowd had grown and I decided to call it a day as Hazare vowed to launch more fasts at Jantar Mantar in the heart of the nation’s capital. May be I shall see him there?
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